


Shifts

by thequidditchpitch_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drabble, Erotica, Friendship, Post-Hogwarts, Post-War, Romance, The Quidditch Pitch: Leaving Feast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-14
Updated: 2008-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-27 16:18:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10812537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequidditchpitch_archivist/pseuds/thequidditchpitch_archivist
Summary: Hermione's perceptions of Charlie change as she grows up





	Shifts

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** for Inell

“This is my brother, Charlie,” Ron said, and there was something in his voice she’d never heard before; maybe it was glory by association, or possibly hero worship. To Hermione, though, Ron’s second oldest brother was crude, a bit rough around the edges: strangely fascinating but almost repellent. _Too much,_ with his weather beaten skin and flinty eyes and those shiny burn marks on his massive arms. Uncivilized, almost brutal.

~ 

  
“Come on, Hermione, Charlie’s here—and he brought dragons!” Once again, she couldn’t look away. That dazzling grin as he identified his youngest brother, the determination in his eyes as he held the dragon’s chains taut, the admiration and exhilaration written plainly on his face as the dragon lost patience, shooting fire from her nostrils so close to Charlie that it was a wonder he didn’t combust on the spot.

~

“You need a haircut,” Molly had said, and Charlie good-naturedly succumbed to his mother’s forceful personality, though Hermione suspected he had only given in because he wanted to make up for many months’ absence. Mrs. Weasley’s fussing was an expression of affection, and if his submitting to her clacking shears made her feel useful to her erstwhile son, it was the least he could do. Besides, Hermione thought the haircut made him look dashing, sort of like a soldier in one of those ads the army put on the telly--the personification of a hero.

~

“Dad, stop it, I’ll carry him," Charlie said, and Hermione would never forget the apparent ease with which he carried his brother's corpse, nor the naked pain on his face as he disappeared, presumably reappearing at the Burrow. She’d heard later that he lost a good chunk of his calf during the apparition; he’d never been all that good at it, but he hadn’t bothered getting it healed. Perhaps he thought he deserved the resulting scar for arriving just a bit too late.  
  
~

“He’ll come round eventually,” Charlie said, and Hermione sniffed, wondering how much patience she was supposed to gift Ron with. This was Harry and Ginny’s wedding, and considering the obstacles they’d had to put up with to come together, Hermione was wondering what Ron’s problem was, and why they couldn’t seem to progress past the remarkable chemistry that kept pulling them together. He’d hurt her so many times, pulling away every time they came closer to commitment. If only she could find the right words to tell him that he was everything she’d dreamed of since she as twelve. But how did one convince someone stubborn and self-deprecating of his own self worth? Let alone that she’d spent the last six years planning the rest of your life with him? She’d invested so much; did she have the courage to let it go?   
  
~

“He moved out,” she sobbed, and Ginny didn’t say a word, just hugged her tight and made sympathetic noises. How did one move on when everything you’d dreamed of came crashing down around you? She wondered if she’d ever stop feeling like something less than a woman. Hadn’t she tried to make him happy?  
  
~

“Take off your clothes,” he ordered, and she complied without a second thought, the faint growl in his voice sending shivers through her body. He made her wait, made her squirm and gnash her teeth in frustration as he slowly stripped down, revealing each freckle, each scar, each tattoo, each rippling muscle. And then he stepped forward, a thick cock bobbing in the candlelight, taking her breath away as she waited for the touch of his hands on her skin. It would be rough; she _knew_ it would be rough, and she was just experienced enough to know that it was precisely what she needed.

_  
~_

_“Mine,”_ she said, twining her leg around a powerful thigh, feeling small and helpless and brainless and boneless. _This_ was what she’d been searching for--someone to make his mark on her, someone who’d never let another man’s interest scare him away. Charlie’s insecurities, if there were any, didn’t stop him from taking what he wanted and holding it close. And the way he’d made her feel…he was the only person who’d ever made her clever mind shut down and her body take over. _This_ was an addiction she didn’t mind suffering from for the rest of her life.  
  
 _~_

_"Mine,"_ Charlie said, halfway asleep, and strong arms closed around her, pulling her close.


End file.
